False eyelashes with integrated reinforcement anchors

ABSTRACT

A set of false eyelashes includes a plurality of hairs secured to a band of flexible fabric that is configured to be placed on a precoated surface of an eyelid. The band has an inner end meant to be placed in the inner corner of the wearer&#39;s eyelid and an outer end meant to be placed in the outer corner of the wearer&#39;s eyelid. A single inner anchor is permanently secured to the band at its inner end, and at least one outer anchor is permanently secured to the band at its outer end.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present disclosure relates in general to the cosmetic arts and more particularly to false eyelashes.

2. Background Art

False eyelashes are a popular cosmetic accessory for enhancing and drawing attention to the beauty of an individual's eye. Until now, the most common false eyelashes have consisted of synthetic, animal, or human hairs attached to a substrate affixed to the wearer's eyelids by a pressure-sensitive adhesive or glue. However, adhesive eyelashes have many drawbacks. For one, adhesive eyelashes are typically designed to be worn only once. If the adhesive bond is not strong enough, the bond between the lashes and the wearer's eyelid may wear out after several hours, causing the lashes to loosen or fall off. Conversely, if the adhesive bond is too strong, the wearer's real eyelashes may inadvertently be pulled off when the false eyelashes are removed. In addition, the adhesive may leave a residue on the wearer's eyelids, and may irritate the wearer's skin or eyes. Furthermore, many users find adhesive eyeliners difficult to apply.

In response to these and other shortcomings of adhesive eyelashes, more and more wearers have turned to magnetic eyelashes, which are available in two basic forms. The first type of magnetic eyelash consists of upper and lower eyelash assemblies, each of which includes a set of natural or artificial hairs attached to a magnetic substrate. The upper eyelash assembly is placed above the wearer's eyelashes, and the lower eyelash assembly is placed below the wearer's eyelashes, so that the wearer's natural eyelashes are sandwiched between the upper and lower assemblies. One potential problem with this type of magnetic eyelash is that clamping the natural eyelashes between the two assemblies may create stress on the wearer's hair follicles and cause lash damage or traction alopecia.

A second type of magnetic eyelash uses a single magnetic substrate, in combination with a liquid eyeliner containing iron oxide particles. In some versions, the substrate takes the form of a fabric or plastic band with embedded magnetic particles, while in other forms, the band lacks embedded magnetic particles, but has magnetic anchors attached to one side at regular intervals along its length. Additional separate anchors may also be provided for the wearer to attach at the ends of the band, for extra adhesion at the corners of eye.

To apply the second type of magnetic eyelash, the wearer simply brushes on the magnetic liquid eyeliner, and then presses the substrate over the eyeliner. This type of eyelash appears to pose less risk of damaging the wearer's natural eyelashes than the “sandwich”-type eyelash. However, many users find that the substrate does not adhere sufficiently well to the wearer's eyelashes, particularly at the corners of the wearer's eyes. Other wearers find the magnetic anchors to be too heavy, resulting in tired eyes.

These and other problems are addressed by this disclosure as summarized below.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A set of false eyelashes according to the present disclosure includes a plurality of hairs secured to a substrate that is configured to be placed on a precoated surface of an eyelid. The substrate has an inner end meant to be placed in the inner corner of the wearer's eyelid and an outer end meant to be placed in the outer corner of the wearer's eyelid. A single inner anchor is permanently secured to the strip at its inner end, and at least one outer anchor is permanently secured to the strip at its outer end.

In one aspect of the disclosure, the substrate is a flexible fabric band. In one example, the substrate is secured to the eyelid through a magnetic attraction between a magnetic strip embedded in the fabric and magnetic particles on the precoated surface of the eyelid. In another example, the substrate is nonmagnetic and is secured to the eyelid through an adhesive on the precoated surface of the eyelid.

In one aspect of the disclosure, the at least one outer anchor comprises a plurality of closely spaced outer anchors.

In another aspect of the disclosure, the plurality of outer anchor comprises no more than three outer anchors.

In a still another aspect of the disclosure, the plurality of outer anchors comprises exactly three outer anchors. The three outer anchors comprise an outermost anchor, a penultimate outer anchor, and a tertiary outer anchor. The distance between the outermost anchor and the tertiary outer anchor is less than the distance between tertiary outer anchor and the inner anchor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a set of false eyelashes according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary top view of the substrate of the false eyelashes shown in FIG. 1 .

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken through line 3-3 of FIG. 1 .

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2 , of a substrate according to an alternate embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken through line 4-4 of FIG. 4

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention.

As seen in FIG. 1 , a set of eyelashes according to the present disclosure, referred to in its entirety by the numeral 10, includes a plurality of natural or synthetic hairs 12 attached to a narrow, elongated substrate 14 formed of a flexible fabric such as cotton. The substrate 14 may initially be straight, or may be pre-formed with an arcuate configuration having a curvature similar to that of a typical adult human eyelid. In either case, the substrate must be flexible enough to easily conform to the contours of the wearer's eyelid. The substrate 14 has an inner end 16 for placement over the inner, or nasal, end of the wearer's eyelid, adjacent to the nasal canthus of the eye, and an outer end 18 for placement over the outer, or temporal, end of the wearer's eyelid, adjacent to the temporal canthus of the eye.

A single inner anchor 20 is permanently secured, for instance by adhesive, to the substrate 14 at the inner end 16, and at least one outer anchor 22 is permanently secured, for instance by adhesive, to the substrate 14 at the outer end 18. Preferably, there are three closely spaced outer anchors including the outermost anchor 22, a penultimate outer anchor 24, and a tertiary outer anchor 26. There are no intermediate anchors between the inner anchor 20 and the outer anchors 22, 24, 26.

The tertiary and penultimate outer anchors 24, 26 allow users with shorter eyelids to cut the substrate 14 to fit while still leaving at least one outer anchor in place to secure the substrate 14 at the outer corner of the eye. For instance, a wearer with long eyelids may keep the substrate 14 at its original length, leaving all three anchor outer anchors 22, 24, and 26 in place, while a wearer with average-sized eyelids may cut off the outer end of the substrate 14 at some point between outermost anchor 22 and penultimate anchor 24, losing outermost anchor 22 but retaining penultimate outer magnet 24 and tertiary outer magnet 26. A user with shorter than average-sized eyelids may cut off the outer end of the substrate 14 at some point between penultimate outer anchor 24 and tertiary outer anchor 26, losing outermost anchor 22 and penultimate anchor 24, but leaving tertiary anchor 26 in place

Since the length of the adult human eyelid typically falls within the range of 22 to 28 mm, the distance L₁ between inner anchor 20 and the outermost anchor 26 may be 28 mm, The distance L₂ between the outermost anchor 22 and the penultimate touter anchor 24 may be about 3 mm, and the distance D₂ between the penultimate outer anchor 24 and the tertiary outer anchor may be about the same. The distance between the tertiary outer anchor 26 and the inner anchor 20 may be about 19 mm.

In one example, illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 , the substrate 14 comprises a magnetic strip or wire 28 encased or embedded in a fabric band 15, and the anchors are magnets. The strip or wire 28 may be formed of magnetized stainless steel.

To apply the eyelash set 10 according to this example, the wearer brushes magnetic eyeliner on the surface of their eyelids, and aligns the inner anchor against the inner corner of the eyelid. They then press the band 15 onto the eyeliner, working their way outwardly until all the anchors are in place.

The magnetic anchors 20, 22, 24, and 26 perform a dual function. They provide extra magnetic bonding at the inner and outer corners of the eyelid where the lashes are most likely to lift, and also act as guides helping the user to align the lashes along the outer edge of the eyelid.

In another example, illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 , the substrate 114 comprises a plain fabric band 115 with no magnetic components. Each anchor 126 may be made of the same fabric as the band 115. The eyelash set is applied in the same manner as in the previous example, except that an adhesive, rather than magnetic, eyeliner is used.

The nonmagnetic anchors 126 provide extra adhesion by adding additional surface and increased friction at the inner and outer corners of the eyelid where the lashes are most likely to lift, and also act as guides helping the user to align the lashes along the outer edge of the eyelid.

While embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it is not intended that these embodiments illustrate and describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather, the words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A set of false eyelashes for application to a precoated surface of an eyelid, the set comprising: a band of flexible material, the band having an inner end for placement over an inner corner of the eyelid and an outer end for placement over an outer corner of the eyelid; a plurality of hairs secured to the band; a single inner anchor permanently secured to the band at the inner end thereof; and at least one outer anchor permanently secured to the band at the outer end thereof.
 2. The set of false eyelashes according to claim 1, wherein the at least outer one anchor comprises a plurality of closely spaced outer anchors.
 3. The set of false eyelashes according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of closely spaced outer anchors comprises no more than three outer anchors.
 4. The set of false eyelashes according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of closely spaced anchors consists of exactly three outer anchors.
 5. The set of false eyelashes according to claim 4, wherein: the three outer anchors comprise an outermost anchor, a penultimate outer anchor, and a tertiary outer anchor; wherein the penultimate outer anchor is located between the outermost anchor and the tertiary outer anchor; the outermost anchor is located a first predetermined distance from the tertiary outer anchor; the tertiary outer anchor is located a second predetermined distance from the inner outer anchor; wherein the second predetermined distance is greater than the first predetermined distance.
 6. The set of false eyelashes according to claim 1, wherein the flexible material comprises a fabric.
 7. The set of false eyelashes according to claim 6, wherein the fabric is cotton.
 8. The set of false eyelashes according to claim 6, wherein the flexible material comprises a fabric having a magnetic core.
 9. The set of false eyelashes according to claim 8, wherein the magnetic core comprises a flexible strip of magnetized stainless steel.
 10. The set of false eyelashes according to claim 9, wherein the set is configured to be applied to an eyelid treated with magnetic eyeliner, and each of the anchors is a magnet.
 11. The set of false eyelashes according to claim 1, wherein the set is configured to be applied to an eyelid treated with adhesive eyeliner, and the anchors are nonmagnetic. 